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Various Artists: Ballads
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Ballads Fellside Recordings FECD110 (CD, UK, 1997) |
Produced by Paul Adams.
Recorded by Paul Adams except for
The Bonny Banks of Fordie
recorded by Bernard Whitty
and
Tam Lin
recorded by David Wood, Sound Services, Monmouth.
Tracks
- Gordon Tyrrall: Seven Gypsies (Roud 1; Child 200) (5.09)
- Gordeanna McCulloch: Mill o' Tifty's Annie (Roud 98; Child 233) (7.06)
- Arthur Knevett: Lord Bateman (Roud 40; Child 53) (4.23)
- Nic Jones: The Bonny Banks of Fordie (Roud 27; Child 14) (6.15)
- Frankie Armstrong: Tam Lin (Roud 35; Child 39) (9.57)
- John Wright: Matty Groves (Roud 52; Child 81) (6.29)
- Maddy Prior: Chyld Owlett (Roud 3883; Child 291) (3.32)
- Martyn Wyndham-Read: The Lover's Ghost (Roud 179; Child 248) (5.39)
- John Kirkpatrick: Robin Hood Rescuing the Three Squires (Roud 71; Child 140) (8.02)
- Christine Kydd: Sheath & Knife (Roud 3960; Child 16) (7.38)
- Linda Adams: The Sun Shines Fair (The Cruel Mother) (Roud 9; Child 20) (3.46)
- Bobby Eaglesham: The Bonny House of Airlie (Roud 794; Child 199) (3.50)
- Brian Peters: Young Hunting (Roud 47; Child 68) (7.02)
Sleeve Notes
This is a selection of versions of songs collectively known as the “Big Ballads” (in Scotland they are also known as the “Muckle Sangs”). Many of the themes and even some of the words of the songs have very ancient origins. They are part of our folk culture having been kept alive by traditional singers over the generations.
One of Sir Walter Scott's Scottish source singers for his Ballad collecting got rather cross when he showed her the texts which he had written down, she felt that he ruined them: “They were made for singing an no' for writing down.” None of the people on this recording would disagree with that! The texts make fine narrative poems, but marry them with the majestic tunes with which they are associated, put them in the hands of singers experienced in performing ballads, who are gifted story tellers and you have a potent combination. Despite the old lady's objections, if it was not for the collectors many of these songs might have been lost forever. By their nature the belong to “the people” and have been passed on in the oral tradition.
For a start they are a link with the ancient bardic traditions which go back in the mists of time. What made “the folk” interest in them? Quite simply they are good stories. Their themes are those which have fascinated people throughout the ages: tales of the supernatural, murder, forbidden love, tabloid crime, the doings of the high and mighty, championing the under-dog, tragedy, romance and gripping yarns. They have come under considerable threat from twentieth century culture and mass media, but they still have an appeal by the nature of their themes, there are still people wanting to perform them and an audience wanting to hear them. The mass media techniques, such as recordings, whilst threatening them on one hand provide access to them on the other.
The songs are remarkably tenacious: many of these stories are shared with various European countries and some even stretch to the orient. They travelled with colonists to various parts of the New World and south to Australasia. Sometimes they have fragmented and created new songs. They have been subjected to a variety of methods of presenting them from the straight-forward unaccompanied singer to full-blown rock treatment. All are equally valid: in the hands (or voice!) of a gifted unaccompanied performer the drama can be just as intense as the same ballad given dramatic effects with drums, wailing guitars and electronic gadgetry.
In this collection we have chosen to present the ballads simply, with the minimum of embellishment, and let the stories tell themselves. Scotland has been one of the most fertile regions for the preservation of the ballads (often the dialect gives them an archaic feel and adds to the drama) and it is sometimes forgotten that England has also carried some fine versions. We have included examples of Scots ballads here, but continuing the theme of pointing up the rich tapestry in the English tradition which we started with our Voices collection (FECD87) the majority of the songs are from English sources. We hope to add collections of Scottish ballads in the future.
The singers are some of the finest interpreters of the genre and as with our Voices collection you will hear a variety of approaches and vocal styles.
The greatest collection of ballads is that made by Professor Frances Child and the numbers allocated to each one are given against the titles here so that anyone wishing to delve more into the subject can have a point of reference.
Seven Gypsies
Gordon Tyrrall, vocal, guitar
Gordon's version of this extremely popular ballad (The Gypsy Laddie, Black Jack Davy, The Raggle Taggle Gypsies, etc.) is loosely based on the one collected from the magnificent Norfolk singer Harry Cox. Harry's version mentions the Earl O'Cassil. A basis for the story is reported to be Lady Jean Hamilton who loved Sir Francis Faa of Dunbar (Faa was a common gypsy name and some versions of the song are called Johnny Faa). She married instead the 6th Earl of Cassilis (also called John). According to the story Sir John Faa came to Cassilis castle disguised as a gypsy accompanied by some genuine gypsies. The Earl came home and hanged them all. Another supposition is that it developed from a Celtic tale of a fairy abduction (a theme in Tam Lin). Whatever, it makes a good and lasting story. There is an example of the oral tradition at work where the line “cast their gaze all over her” has become the meaningless, but rather poetic, “cast their gabriel over her.”
Mill o' Tifty's Annie
Gordeanna McCulloch, vocal
The heroine is reputed to be one Annie Smith who died in 1673 and was buried in Fyvie Churchyard. Certainly the song has the feel of a ballad of considerable age. It's tune is a close relation of other “classic ballads” (c.f. Dowie Dens of Yarrow, Georgie, Barbara Allen). Gordeanna's source for this song was the fine Scots traditional singer, Sheila Stewart.
Lord Bateman
Arthur Knevett, vocal
Arthur describes this as a “ripping yarn” and it is very much a “Boys Own” adventure ballad which enjoyed widespread popularity. It was regularly printed as a broadside which will have helped its popularity in the oral tradition and stabilised its text (Bronson gives 112 versions, most of them from oral sources). Essentially it is a medieval romance with a happy ending. Arthur's straightforward declamatory gives a certain nobility to the story. There is a school of thought which says that the adventures described in the ballad actually happened to Gilbert Beckett, father of Thomas à Beckett. Arthur's source for the song were recordings by Joseph Taylor, the Lincolnshire singer whose songs were collected by Percy Grainger, and A.L. Lloyd. He admits that is has “altered a bit over the years.”
The Bonny Banks of Fordie
Nic Jones, vocal, guitar
Nic collected this version from verses to be found in Child and the tune was inspired by the one in Dean Christie's Traditional Ballad Airs for The Laird of Drum. Child discovered five versions of this song and noted that the ballad could also be found in Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Bronson reported eight versions including four from North America.
Tam Lin
Frankie Armstrong, vocal
Tam Lin has been Frankie's tour-de-force for several years now. Her stunning performance here, full of passion and drama, clearly illustrates why she is a ballad singer par excellence. This is the classic “Elfland” ballad and contains a considerable amount of ancient folklore: Tam Lin is a human abducted by the elves and when he returns to the human world at the end the Elf Queen's wish that she had “put out his eyes” is not borne out of vindictiveness, but because he has seen the secrets of Elfland and will take them to the human world.
Frankie notes: “Given that I've sung this more than any other ballad, that it is the most requested and consistently touches me to the core, it's strange that I find it difficult to know what to say about it. There are scholarly things that can be said—they are interesting but do not illuminate the story or its effect. At its heart there is a mystery and I have no desire to analyse this away—even were it possible—I simply know that its power lies somewhere in the glorious weaving of words, images, story and tune an in something magical about tales of transformation. This song has lived with me for thirty years now and inspired the song-cycle based on the themes and characters that I devised and recorded with Brian Person in the early eighties. Singing it still thrills me.”
Matty Groves (Little Musgrave)
John Wright, vocal
Steve Lawrence, cittern
Adultery, lust, an unfaithful wife, revenge, crime of passion, loyalty—modern tabloids would have a field day with this story. Matty has ideas above his station. He also is one of the earliest recorded “toy boys.” This is another well travelled ballad which got a new lease of life a few years ago when it was recorded by the folk rock band, Fairport Convention. John has two versions, one from the great Scots ballad singer Jeannie Robertson via Lorna Campbell and the other from the Appalachian singer, Hedy West. Unable to choose John extracted the best elements of each and created this version. What makes the story classic tragedy is the way in which all principal characters progress inexorably to the inevitable conclusion.
Chyld Owlett
Maddy Prior, vocal
This extremely rare ballad is fairly horrific even by ballad standards. The failed seduction and the revenge of the spurned temptress provides another theme for the high drama of ballads, but it is the way his body is spread over the landscape which takes it one step beyond the more usual ballad disposal methods of poisoning, stabbing, drowning, burning and beheading.
The Lover's Ghost
Martyn Wyndham-Read, vocal
Martyn learned this song from A.L. Lloyd. The most famous version (and Lloyd's source) was the one collected from Cecilia Costello in Birmingham in 1951. Mrs Costello was of Irish descent. The theme of the lover returning from the dead and having to return at dawn—when the cock crows—is a very ancient folklore theme which as Lloyd states in the Penguin book of English Folk Songs “has spread from the Orient, through the Balkans as far west as Ireland.”
Robin Hood Rescuing the Three Squires
John Kirkpatrick, vocal, accordion, concertina
As England's foremost mythical hero it seems fitting that there should be a good number of ballads devoted to his exploits (Child printed 38). This one is based on the song sung to Vaughan Williams by Mrs Goodyear of Axford, Hampshire in 1909. To fill the gaps in the story John has adapted verses from versions in Child and that remembered by Northamptonshire poet, John Clare.
Sheath & Knife
Christine Kydd, vocal
There are two classic ballads dealing with the subject of incest, Lucy Wan and Sheath and Knife. It is the sheer nobility of the tune which gives Sheath and Knife the edge. It is a truly magnificent ballad which has all the stature of a Shakespearean tragedy. Christine writes “Like most singers I am drawn to songs when I hear them sung and it seems that most of the great ballad singers of the folk revival have sung a version of this one, Gordeanna McCulloch, Jean Redpath, Sheena Wellington, Ewan MacColl and Tony Rose. The published written sources of which I'm aware are Motherwell's and Helen Mennie Shire's from the Dalhousie Manuscript. I have told the story in my own words rather than learning set verses and it has emerged as a compilation of all the ones I know. The bravery and resignation of this young woman and the grief of her brother are heart wrenching. I see this as not just a piece of history, it's stark modern reality.”
The Sun Shines Fair (Cruel Mother)
Linda Adams, vocal, guitar
This is an intriguing version of a very ancient ballad. The theme of infanticide is rare in itself in ballads, but apart from that, it is the standard story of a pregnancy by someone of the wrong class. Usually it has a “Down by The Greenwood Sidy-O” refrain, but this version locates it in the Border city of Carlisle. Linda learnt it from her English teacher and singer, Ann Dickens. A version is printed in Songs and Ballads of Cumberland. Paul Adams added a first verse from another version to help put the story in context. A number of folklore elements have disappeared from this version, e.g. the colour green, the oak tree, etc. The song, like one or two other ballads, has been found in the form of a children's game song.
The Bonny House of Airlie
Bobby Eaglesham, vocal
Many attempts have been made to ascribe historical events and figures to ballads as has been mentioned elsewhere in this text. Normally the links are tenuous, but in this case the origins are based on fact. !n 1640 the Convention of Estates granted a “commission of fire and sword” to Archibald Campbell the 8th Earl of Argyll against the Earl of Airlie and other adherents of Charles I. They were harsh and brutal times and yet Argyll's actions seem to have offended to such an extend that he was obliged to obtain an “Act of Ratificatioune & Exoeneratioune” to absolve himself from blame. The ballad takes liberties with the historical fact (it is doubtful whether Argyll was there in person). Lady Ogilvie is the Earl of Airlie's daughter-in-law. Airlie had left Airlie Castle (part of the old castle stands within the grounds of the modern mansion which bears its name about 5 miles SW of Kirriemuir) in the hands of his son. Reputedly Argyll raised five thousand men and on hearing this Lord Ogilvie fled for safety. The numbers and names vary from version to version.
Young Hunting
Brian Peters, vocal, guitar
Brian notes that this is: “A ballad of murder and detection, whose supernatural elements—locating a submerged body using floating candles, a corpse gushing blood in the presence of a murderer, ordeal by fire—are omitted by recent source singers. The garrulous bird, however, is retained in Martin McDonagh's version (he called in “Lady Margaret”), collected in Co. Roscommon by Tom Munnelly in 1974, which supplied the tune used here. Frank Proffitt of North Carolina sang Song of a Lost Hunter—same story, no bird, servant's gender changed to male providing additional sexual frisson—to a recognisably related melody. The text was knocked together from Child; for dark drama it takes some beating.”
© Paul Adams, 1997